The Spiral Path
by Gamermaster42
Summary: It has been 20 years since the Anti-Spiral war and the Galactic Spiral Peace Conference is approaching. However, an impostor of Gurren Lagann shows up and decimates the honor guard. Will peace be achieved, and who is the Avatar of the Spiral?
1. Just This Once

_ Since the beginning of time, there has been the spiral. Universes rise and universes fall, but the spiral is eternal, ever spinning forward towards an endless tomorrow._

_- Avatar of the Spiral_

* * *

**Chapter 1: **_**Just This Once**_

"Uncle, you HAVE to let me be part of the honor guard!" Anne Littner whined.

Across the desk, a middle aged man sat there, arms folded in front of him, obscuring his mouth. Technically, this man was not her uncle as he had never married her aunt. In fact he had never even dated her aunt. But that didn't stop Anne, as far as she was concerned, the two of them had been a couple all her life, even if they never admitted it out loud.

"How many times to I have to say it? No means no. This is the most important mission conducted by the Dai-Gurren Brigade in the last twenty years. We can only afford to send the best pilots."

"But I am one of the best." Anne interjected.

This wasn't simple boasting. Anne had placed several times in the Gunmen Battles singles circuit, and was one of the only fighters to use a long range Gunmen for close range combat. It still amazed Rossiu that someone could use a support cannon as a reliable finishing move for a bare-handed beat down. Kinon had even told Rossiu that Dayakka and Kiyoh had been discussing letting her compete with a big league team. But fighting skill wasn't the issue here.

"No, you are one of the best fighters. This mission requires pilots capable of showing restraint and frankly, a schoolchild shows more restraint than you."

"But…"

"I said no, and that's final." the commander said, not raising his voice in the slightest.

Anne looked like she was about to say something but changed her mind.

"Fine, I'll be going then. Thanks for your time uncle." She said as she scurried out the door.

The commander sighed after the door closed, pressing the button for his intercom.

"Gimmy, this is Commander Rossiu…"

* * *

Anne Hurried down the corridor until she reached the hanger. Her copilot, Shiho, was waiting for her in his orange plug-suit.

"So did you manage to convince the commander to let us go?"

"Yup. It took a while, but eventually I was able to make him see things my way."

"Why do I get the feeling that's not what happened?"

"Does it really matter?" She responded, climbing into their Gurren Lagann, "Now are you coming or what?"

The heads-up display flickered to life as Anne settled into the cockpit. She really hated the Gurren Lagann model gunmen. In her mind it was just so boring to look at. Those huge sunglasses, the tiny jet packs and that big goofy grin just looked stupid to her. If she had a choice in the matter, she was have gone with her fathers Dayakkaiser that had seen her through many a Gunmen Battle. Of course, that would have been an impossibility even if the honor guard didn't fully consist of Gurren Lagann's as it was currently undergoing repairs after her last Gunmen Battle. But what she really wanted was a recreation of her uncle's King Kittan. Her uncle Kittan had died when she was just an infant but she had been told about him and what a great man he was. How he led the Dai-Gurren Brigade when Simon wasn't able to, how he saved her life when she was a baby armed with nothing but a shotgun, and how he sacrificed his life to save the Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren from the Sea of Despair. It was her dream to die just like he did, going out with a blaze of glory. She even styled her hair to resemble the pictures she had of him. But she was soon knocked out of her daydreaming.

"Anne, are we going to go or not?" Shiho shouted from the lower cockpit.

"Sure, sorry about that. Gurren Lagann, LAUNCH!"

And with that, the Gunmen flew into the sky, trailing behind a spiral of smoke as it shot towards the stars.

* * *

"Understood Rossiu" Gimmy closed the com link and opened up the main channel to his squad.

"Alright men, it seems that Anne and Shiho are currently on there way here. So break in formation to accommodate them."

One of the pilots spoke up, "They better get here soon, the Ambassadors are going to arrive any minute now."

"Gaman, will you just relax. If they aren't here in two minutes, we'll get back in line ok?"

As if on cue, a Gurren Lagann flew into view from the earth below, the sunlight reflecting off of it's massive sunglasses.

"Good to see you two, now get in formation with the others."

The Gurren Lagann just floated there. If it had heard what Darry said, it showed no sign that it did.

"Anne, Shiho, get in line NOW!"

Still nothing. At this point, the rest of the squad was starting to feel uneasy.

"Why aren't they responding?"

"Maybe their com link is down?"

KABOOM! Where one of the squad members was previously, was now just a pile of scrap metal. The new Gurren Lagann crouched over the wreckage, like a beast surveying its kill. It looked downright menacing, its massive jaw giving off a creepy grin.

"AKAISHATSU, NO!"

"Don't worry, we're still getting vital signs. It seems they completely missed the cockpit."

Darry gave a sigh of relief. She hated it when people lost their lives for no reason. Akishatsu was still alive, but with only a cockpit, he'd only have a few minutes of air. After that, he'd be dead for sure, so they had to end this quickly.

"Alright men, I want them captured alive. We need to find out where they got a Gurren Lagann and what they're doing here."

"Ma'am!"

The Gurren Lagann Brigade flew into formation, surrounding their enemy, blasters unholstered. The enemy Gurren Lagann didn't miss a beat, flying off to meet this new opposition while taking on a fighting pose.

"Open Fire!"

A rain of blasts came from all directions, all dead set on taking down the impostor. But somehow, every shot seemed to completely miss it. Almost as if…

"Sir, it must be utilizing a probability fluctuation shield!"

"How could such a small Gunmen carry such advanced technology?"

"It doesn't matter, we have to stop it!"

"Fine then, we'll go with direct combat. Go for the limbs and take that Gunmen down!"

For honor guard situations, all Gurren Lagann models come equipped with a spiral lance, basically a giant drill in the shape of a sword. Three of the squad members rushed their opponent, one in front and two from behind. The impostor reached forward, grabbing the first blade, breaking it with its knee and slamming the broken half into its attacker. Then, it flipped over, ripping the lances from the other two Gunmen's hands and slashing them both in half in a single motion. Casually, it then tossed aside the two lances, which embedded themselves in two other Gunmen, leaving only Gimmy and Darry to fight this monstrosity as the remains of their squad mates floated around them, littering the battlefield.

"This is impossible, it took down the entire brigade in under a minute!"

"Gimmy, focus! We have to stop them."

"Right."

Gimmy and Darry drew their lance, and then reached behind them and took the lance from one of their fallen comrades.

"Sorry about this Gamen" Darry silently thought as they assumed a fighting pose.

Gimmy and Darry rushed their opponent, lances at the ready, launching a fury of attacks. After what had happened to the rest of the squad, they were determined not to let their opponent get in a single chance to counterattack. Every attack chipped away at the impostors armor. The twins were hard set on ending this as quickly as possible. For the sake of their comrades, and for all spiral beings, they would win this fight, and there would be peace!

For almost a full minute, their attacks continued, severing the enemy's arms and legs and shattering their sunglasses. Gimmy went in to deliver the final blow, stabbing the other Gunmen straight through the chest.

"That takes care of that" Gimmy said, letting off a weak smile. Now maybe they could see about getting their squad some medical attention.

"Gimmy Look!"

Looking at what Darry was pointing to, his smile quickly faded. Where there had been countless sword wounds from their onslaught were now just glowing green patches of light. In seconds, it was as if it had never been damaged in the first place.

"They can use Spiral Energy?"

Suddenly the enemy rushed forward, drills flanking its fist. Instinctively, Darry raised the lances to block the attack but they shattered from the punch as their mech was sent flying backwards. The after thrusters brought them to a stop as they tossed the useless remains of the lances aside.

Darry was speechless. Their every attempt to take this thing down had been thwarted. Plus, without spiral energy, there was no way they could ever defeat an enemy this powerful. She suddenly felt very small, the cold darkness of space reminding her of Adai Village. All she wanted to do was give up.

"Darry, snap out of it!" Gimmy screamed.

The sound of her twins yells brought her back to reality. She was dumbfounded by what had just happened. Giving up was something that never crossed her mind. The thought scared her, so she made herself a promise right there, she would never give up again, ever.

"Darry, we're gonna have to use that!"

Ok, screw not giving up, Gimmy was talking crazy.

"Gimmy, are you insane?" She yelled at him, "We're not Simon. Anyone else that's ever even tried that move has died!"

"And if we don't do anything, the entire squad will die!"

"… Fine, but if this gets us killed, so help me, I'll kill you."

"Never mind that, let's do it!"

Darry reached for their Gunmen's sunglasses, flinging them at the opponent.

"FINISHING MOVE!" They both screamed.

"GIGA… DRILL…"

CRASH! Without warning, two drill tendrils shot out of the enemy gunmen and shattering the shades and severed Gurren Lagann's arms, leaving them without any method of attacking. The two of them sat there with their hands gripping uselessly at their Gunmen's controls.

"What just happened?"

"I think the narration made it quite clear"

"We're doomed aren't we?"

"Yup."

"So what do we do now?" Gimmy asked

"Send out a distress beacon and hope that Viral and the rest of the army can get here before we get killed." Darry said dryly.

"Uh, slight problem with that." Gimmy said after a few seconds.

"What?"

"It seems that they're jamming long range communications."

"Great, just fucking great!" Darry slammed her feet against the bottom of the cockpit.

They were going to die, and it would take a miracle to get them out of this.

"Fear not comrades, help has arrived!"

Both Gimmy and Darry looked up in shock. In all the action, they had completely forgotten about Anne and Shiho. Their Gurren Lagann blasted upwards, the sun silhouetting them majestically. But now was not the time for theatrics.

"Guys, get out of here, your no match for this thing. They jammed our communications so we need you to get as far away as you can and deliver a message to the army that we're under attack." Darry shouted out as fast as she could.

Anne let off a confident laugh, "don't worry, I'll take care of this guy myself, even with this inferior model!"

Darry grumbled. This was exactly why she couldn't stand Anne. She had an air of confidence around her at all times, but not in a good way. Kamina and Kittan had given off the feeling that everything would work out alright, but Anne just made you want to slap her in the face. The confidence was just… too… self-centered. There was also her self sacrificing attitude. Darry hated it when people would throw their lives away for no reason.

That's when the enemy gunmen roared. Anne and the twins just sat there in disbelief. It was Shiho who broke the silence.

"Well, this is gonna suck."

The enemy gunmen rushed towards its new opponent, the drills on its hands resembling talons with the oil from its victims dripping like blood. Anne was quick to act.

"Shiho, ready the lance."

"But Anne, that won't work." he interjected.

"Just shut up and do it!"

"… Alright"

"Now then," Anne said, readying the lance, "Take This!"

With a pose not unlike that of a quarterback, Anne launched the lance like a javelin while screaming "SPIRAL IMPACT!" The impostor never had a chance to dodge. The lance impaled them, going straight through the chest and out the back. With that, the com link roared to life.

"Honor guard, this is Commander Rossiu. What's going on? Report!"

"And that's how you take care of an opponent" Anne said gleefully.

Now it was Gimmy's turn to be in disbelief. Sure Anne was a good fighter, but the idea that she could win where an entire squadron of skilled fighters failed was just silly. It couldn't have been that easy. But he soon wished that it was. The Gunmen reached down and ripped out the lance in a single motion, tightening its grip until the lance shattered. Three seconds later and spiral energy had made it as if nothing had ever happened.

"Told you this was going to suck."

"Shut up Shiho."

The enemy Gunmen let out another blood curdling scream that seemed to pierce Shiho's very soul as it resumed its assault. Now that they were disarmed, Anne and Shiho had been placed on the defensive. The impostor was like some kind of rabid beast, digging its drills into their armor, slowly ripping them apart. despite the ferocity of the attack, Shiho could tell that the opponent was holding back, like a cat playing with its food.

"Anne, we're getting our asses kicked here!"

"I can see that! Just give me a minute to think of something."

"Think faster, they're launching another atta…"

An explosion threw their gunmen around like a leaf in a windstorm. The force of the attack shook the mech. Shiho was badly rattled up, and Anne, she had been knocked unconscious after hitting her head on the top of her cockpit. Another hit like that and they'd be finished.

This was it, they were going to die. Shiho couldn't believe it. After everything that people had fought for and died for, it was all going to end here. The summit would fail, the spiral nemesis would destroy the universe and everything would end. At least Anne would get to go out in the blaze of glory she always wanted. That was probably one of the main reasons he was in love with her. But the only love she had interest in was with the idea of a heroic sacrifice. Everything else was locked out…

"Wait a minute!"

There was one last hope, the spiral lock. After the fall of the Anti-Spirals, multiple methods of regulating spiral energy were put into development. The spiral lock was the the pinnacle of this research. While activated, it prevented everything in its field from generating any spiral energy. Ever since their creation, excess spiral energy output had dropped by 84%, allowing the Gunman Games games to be put into effect. Normally, only on-duty military officers were able to turn their locks off and even then, the Gurren Lagann Brigade had theirs on as a sign of goodwill for the Spiral Conference, but the situation was dire.

"Commander, you have to let us deactivate our spiral lock." Shiho said.

"Absolutely not!" Rossiu responded "You're not on duty and we can't lose this chance for peace that our spiral brethren have given us. If you activate your spiral engine now, everything we've fought for for the past twenty-seven years will have been for nothing!"

"But we don't have any other choice!"

Rossiu rubbed his brow, considering his options. If they didn't do something soon, the entire conference could fall apart before it even began.

"Alright," he said, slowly, "Just this once."

"Thank you commander."

They had precious little time. Opening the heads-up display, Shiho cycled through the options until he reached the spiral lock system. All that was left now was to turn it off.

Shiho howled into the mike, "Spiral Lock: Disengage! Passcode… WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?"

The heads-up responded in kind, "Lock Deactivated" flashing on the screen along with the image of a lock shattering. The gunman roared to life, green energy burning out of every possible joint, healing their wounds and sending the impostor flying backwards from the shockwave. The tables had turned, and they were finally in control. Shiho prepared to give his boast, just as he had been taught at the academy.

"FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE SEAS, TO THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN PEAKS."

"OUR POWER ECHOS, READY TO FIGHT!"

"IF SOMEONE TRIES TO BLOCK THE PATH TO PEACE,"

"WE'LL DRILL STRAIGHT THROUGH THEM TOWARDS THE NEVER ENDING LIGHT!"

Confident in the speech he had given, Shiho moved in for the kill. He threw his gunmen's arms behind him as two massive drills were called into existence.

"Twin… Drill… STORM!"

The mech blasted forward, drill in each hand. All it took was a single touch, and with two explosions, the fake Gurren Lagann was no more.

"You know something Shiho?" Anne's whispered over the intercom. "These Gurren Lagann models aren't half bad." And with that, she passed out again.

* * *

**Authors Notes:**

There we are, the first chapter for my first ever fan fiction. It's a bit on the short side, but I think it gets the job done. I want to give special thanks to my little brother for proofreading the story for me.

Anne is meant to be my take on the whole idea of a pointless heroic sacrifice. When designing her character, the one thing I knew that was going to describe her would be "going out in a blaze of glory." Her desire for this and to emulate her uncle don't come from a desire for attention or fame, but rather a misunderstanding of the concept of sacrificing your life for others. It's something that I don't think is touched upon very often in fiction. You have characters that have a martyr complex, but rarely do you see one that wants to go out with a bang.

Both of the squad members names are meant to be gags, going by , Gaman (ironically) means patience and Akaishatsu means red shirt. This probably won't be the last you see of them, but for now they just exist to fill up space. Nakim (The student that Yoko rescued in episode 21) was also one of the pilots on the honor guard, but I just didn't see any way to bring that up during the course of the chapter.

When coming up with Shiho, I wanted someone that would be Anne's perfect match, so I gave him a more reserved snarky personality and even based his name off of the japanese word for star (Hoshi) reflecting her desire to have a King Kittan. His family name is Koachichi, the same as Attenborough, although the only similarity that Shiho has with him is a preference for ranged attacks, as will be seen when I get around to showing his personal gunmen (The fact that he has a ranged gunmen is yet another match up to Anne's Dayakkaiser, although he actually fights long range rather than close).

Comments & constructive criticism is appreciated.

* * *

One final thing: Action scenes are a pain to write


	2. Something Resembling Progress

_ Love is the force that pushes the universe forward. The act of two becoming one is the most pure thing the world has to offer. This twin spiral creates new life and new possibilities with every rotation._

_- Avatar of the Spiral_

* * *

**Chapter 2: **_**Something Resembling Progress**_

Anne awoke with a start. The light was bright and she was having trouble making anything out. A splitting pain coming from her head caught her attention and she reached up to feel that her head was wrapped in bandages. As her eyes adjusted, she could make out the fact that she was in the infirmary. Shiho was asleep in a chair next to her bed and looked like he had been there for a few hours. That's when she remembered…

"Shiho, wake up!" She shouted.

"Huh?" He jolted awake, his combat training instantly putting him on guard for any possible threats. "Oh good, you're awake."

"Shiho, what happened? The last thing I remember is stabbing that impostor, and then everything after that is a blank."

"Don't worry, we won. The doctors say that you suffered a concussion during the fight and will have to be hospitalized for the rest of the day."

"But what about the rest of the squad?" She asked.

"They're all fine." He replied, "Surprisingly, you ended up the worst out of everybody. Other than you, the worst injury that happened was Nakim bruised his arm."

"But how did we win?"

"The Commander gave me permission to deactivate the Spiral Lock and I blew up the impostor."

"Well, at least that's over then." She sighed.

"Not exactly." He said dryly.

"What do you mean?"

"The commander came by earlier after your parents had left and he had a message for us."

"Oh really? What did he say?"

"We've both been, kinda sorta, put on probation for the next two weeks."

"WHAT? WHY?"

Shiho winced. This was going to be painful, "You see, we both disobeyed orders to go join up with the honor guard, and I destroyed the impostor despite the fact that they wanted the enemy pilot captured alive."

"Well, I guess that gives me more time to prepare for my next match."

"Yeah, about that. The probation extends to Gunmen battles as well."

Anne was dumbstruck. She had an important match at the end of the week. They hadn't even committed any major transgressions. How could her uncle do this to her after she had just saved the day (well technically, Shiho saved the day, but she helped and that's what mattered)?

Shiho suddenly spoke up "Oh yeah, the commander did have one other thing to say."

"Oh yeah, what's that?" She asked, not really caring to hear the answer.

"He said 'Job well done'."

And then Anne smiled.

* * *

Elsewhere, Rossiu was listening to Kinon's report on what they had managed to salvage from the wreckage, trying to make something resembling progress.

"Mechanically, it was near identical to Gimmy and Darry's Gurren Lagann, except for the fact that it didn't show any signs of having a Spiral Lock."

"Meaning it was removed."

"No, it means it never had one."

Rossiu looked up in shock, "But that's impossible. All Gunmen built in the last fourteen years are required to have a Spiral Lock installed, and other than the original, there are no recorded Gurren Lagann models built earlier than ten years ago."

Kinon responded, "That's hardly the issue here. The remains suggest that this Gunmen was made with spiral energy rather than built."

"So it was made recently?"

"About ten minutes before it attacked the honor guard if these results are accurate."

Rossiu let out a deep sigh and rubbed his forehead, "Fine then, what were the results of the autopsy on the pilot?"

"We couldn't perform one."

"Why, was the body too damaged to perform one?"

"Actually, it's more like there was no trace of there ever having been a pilot."

"What? You mean it didn't have a pilot?"

"No there were defiantly residual spiral readings in the cockpit, but other than that, there was nothing. No blood, no sweat, no clothes. There wasn't even an imprint on the seat."

Rossiu sighed again. This was just what they needed, now of all times. The ambassadors were arriving and the Spiral Conference would be starting next week, so of course everything went to hell. It just all had to happen on his watch. The press was saying that he wasn't doing enough and should have been replaced after the whole moon incident. Didn't people realize that galactic peace was a very delicate process that required the cooperation of thousands of cultures, all of which had different ethics? It was almost like the entire human race was out to get him, and that wasn't even factoring in the problems with all the other races.

News of the attack on the honor guard had already spread and people were already pointing fingers at each other. The Touge in particular were quick to point fingers at humanity, accusing them of trying to gather sympathy. Oh dear lord, the Touge were probably the biggest thing on his plate right now. Out of all of the major races taking place in the conference, they had given the most opposition, though not without reason. During the original attack of the Anti-Spiral, the Touge had made up a bulk of the Spiral Knights and were humanities closest allies. Unfortunately, Lordgenome betrayed the army and Touge grudges are eternal so they hated all of humanity.

"Rossiu, the report?" Kinon spoke up.

"Right, sorry. Continue."

"We have Leeron heading the project to figure out what happened.

"Good, I can't think of anyone better to work on this."

"But we don't expect any results for at least another two days." she pointed out.

"So long as progress gets done, it doesn't matter. This should appease some of the ambassadors for the time being. Especially Jifu, I pretty sure that he has it out for me."

"Jifu has it out for all of humanity." Kinon quickly pointed out.

"True. But that doesn't mean we can't compromise with him. Thank you for the report. Will that be all?"

"Well, I have to deal with last minute accommodations for some of the ambassadors, but there are a few other things I'd like to discuss with you later."

Rossiu gulped. It was now or never, "How about dinner at my place tomorrow?"

"Sure thing." She replied as she walked out the door.

Rossiu smiled. Maybe progress would be made after all.

* * *

Anne awoke as soon as possible the next morning when the nurse was removing her bandages. Shiho came in while she was having breakfast (she had convinced him to head home the previous night, after pointing out that he needed a decent rest after the fight), so after a quick meal and getting changed into the clothes her parents had left for her, she went to the main desk to check out. She was sure to be careful on the way home, wanting to recover as soon as possible. Despite her protests, Shiho insisted on accompanying her all the way to her front door.

As he turned to leave, she spoke up, "By the way Shiho."

"Yeah?" he said.

"I want to thank you for the save yesterday. You're a good friend and if I wasn't going to go out in a blaze of glory, I'd definitely go out with you." She blushed.

Not sure how to respond to this, he eventually went with, "Thanks… I guess. See ya."

Anne opened the door and crept in, hoping not to bother her parents, planning on simply going to her room and taking a nap. She made it about halfway across the hallway until she heard a sound coming from the living room.

"He really is a nice boy dear."

"I know mom." Anne said without turning to face her mother, "But I don't have any time for romance, I'm too busy…"

"Going out in a blaze of glory, I know. I really wish you'd change that attitude, it scares me sometimes." Her mother responded, having heard this hundreds of times. "Why don't you come sit down for a minute?"

Anne sat down on the sofa next to her mother, "I can't believe that Uncle Rossiu banned me from competing this week. The preliminaries are starting soon!"

"Don't blame him honey, it wasn't his decision to ban you from the matches, it was mine." Kiyoh said.

"But why?" Anne wined.

"Your father and I are getting worried with your sacrificing attitude and feel that you need some time away from Gunmen battles. You almost got yourself killed yesterday with your recklessness!"

"It's not like you and dad were any different" Anne pointed out.

"No, we knew when to retreat. You just rush in without a plan. Without spiral energy, fighting spirit can only take you so far in a fight."

"I'm twenty years old, I think I'm old enough to make my own decisions."

"Maybe, but as long as you live in this house, you will abide by my rules. Now go to your room, you need your rest." Kiyoh said sternly, ending the conversation.

With that, Anne got up from the couch and left for her room. Laying down on her bed, she looked around at all her possessions. There were trophies from her many Gunmen victories, her diploma from graduating the military academy, various pictures of the Dai-Gurren Brigade, most of which featuring her uncle, and off to the side were some pictures of her and Shiho. Ever since they met at the academy, he had been her closest friend. If it hadn't been for him, she probably wouldn't have passed anything other than the practical exams. Fortunately, that had been his weak point, so she had been able to return the favor in kind. One particular picture caught her eye, it was the day they graduated. In fact it had been right after the picture was taken that he had confessed to her. She had pointed out to him that she wasn't interested in romance, but that never deterred him. She sighed. Maybe she should give the whole love thing a try.

"No, that's stupid, a bomb like me has no place in the world of love." Her inner voice pointed out. Groaning at the fact that life had to be so complicated, she turned off the light, closed her eyes, and went to sleep.

* * *

Rossiu had never been much of a chef, but he still wanted it to be special. A special grape hippo steak, sauteed with spring onions and a special sauce that Leyte had given him, along with the finest wine he could afford (despite being the supreme commander of the entire planet, his actual salary was rather small. He preferred to spend money on more important things, like schools, roads and giant robots). Regardless of what other people thought, he had a good reason for not pursuing a relationship with Kinon. These past twenty years, they had needed to focus all of their attention on the Spiral Conference and bringing the spiral races together. Love would have just been another distraction. But now that they had finally reached that goal that once seemed so far away, he felt that it would be best to just spend the next week relaxing, after all he wouldn't be able to run a summit if he was an emotional wreck. He'd finally be able to make it clear to her just how much he appreciated everything she had ever done for him. The doorbell rang and standing at the door was Kinon in a simple black dress.

"I hope, I'm not dressed up too much." She said.

"No, you look absolutely perfect."

They stared at each other and slowly, both their faces turned red. He gestured for her to enter and closed the door behind her, leading her to the table where a candlelight dinner was set. They sat down and began to eat, neither saying a word. This went on for about fifteen minutes, with both of them just sitting there eating. All this quiet was starting to drive Rossiu insane and he racked his brain for something, anything to say to break the tension.

"Kinon, these past twenty seven years, you have been such a good friend and always supported me, even when the rest of the world didn't." Rossiu finally said, breaking the silence, "I just wanted you to know how much I appreciated everything you've ever done for me and for the world. If only we hadn't been so busy, we might have been able to do this sooner."

She leaned over the table and kissed him on his forehead. "Then let's make up for lost time." she replied, giving a warm smile.

Truly, progress would be made tonight.

* * *

Meanwhile, Darry was also busy. Due to how bad she had felt the previous day, coupled with the fact that she needed to be ready at a moments notice during the Spiral Conference, she had decided that the best thing to do would be to see a therapist. Gimmy had been against it up until she pointed out what had happened to Rossiu during the moon incident. After that she had his full support.

"So Darry, tell me why you've come to see me." The therapist said as she entered the room.

"Well Dr. Zetsubou," Darry said taking a seat "Recently I've been feeling different."

"Different, how exactly?"

"Yesterday I felt worried."

"Understandable, I heard about what happened to your squad. Anyone would have been worried in your situation."

"No you don't understand." Darry said, "This wasn't like anything I ever felt before. I actually wanted to give up."

The psychologist took a long hard look at her, removing his glasses. "From what you've told me, and based on what I already know about you, I'd have to guess that you're suffering from depression."

"Depression? How?"

"This is only a theory, but it's possible that the stress you've gone through during your life built up and yesterday was the dirt that broke the Pigmole's back, so to speak."

Now Darry was worried, "What can I do about it?"

"Well, we'd have to run some tests to be sure if it actually is depression, but all you can really do is learn to deal with it. It's just another part of you, don't let it be in control."

Darry got up and responded, "Thanks doctor, I think that helped."

"You're welcome. Feel free to come back if these problems continue." Dr Zetsubou said, with a smile.

"I will."

And with that, Darry left the doctors office.

* * *

The next day, everyone in the main government bureau that came near Rossiu or Kinon was smiling. But no one was smiling stronger than Guinble. You see, for the longest time there had been a betting pool on when Kinon and Rossiu would finally hook up. The smart money was placed on right after the Spiral Conference ended, but only he was reckless enough to bet on the week beforehand. So by the end of the day, he'd be heading home with a couple billion.

"So, how's the man of the hour?" he said to Rossiu at the first chance he got.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Rossiu responded.

"Come on, you had a beautiful woman over to your house for a romantic dinner. One doesn't have to be a genius to put two and two together." Guinble pointed out.

"All we did was talk about the summit!" Rossiu protested.

"Sure you did. Well it doesn't make any difference, I still go home rich."

"What are you talking about?" Rossiu asked, not knowing anything about the betting pool.

"Uh… hang on a second, I think Cybela is calling me." Guinble quickly excused himself, hoping that Rossiu wouldn't realize that Cybela was currently stationed on the Super Galaxy Dai-Gurren.

On his way out he passed by Kinon who was heading in, and his smile got wider by the minute.

"What's with him." She asked Rossiu, after seeing Guinble acting uncharacteristically giddy.

"Something about winning some money, don't worry about it, what is it that you wanted to talk about?"

"We've got some new information on the impostor. It's been confirmed that it wasn't sent by any known faction."

Rossiu sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last twenty-four hours. "Which means we may have a terrorist faction on our hands."

"It looks that way."

Rossiu took a deep breath, "Just what we needed. Why did this need to happen now of all times?"

"Terrorist groups spring up all the time." Kinon pointed out.

"True, but most of them don't threaten intergalactic peace. God must be testing us."

"I highly doubt that. The closest thing I can think of that would be god is Simon, and I can't see any reason why he would test us."

"Don't be too sure, the lord works in mysterious ways."

"Was that something that you learned at Adai Village?"

"No, I just thought it sounded cool."

"So are we going to hold a press conference about the information we've gathered?"

"I don't see any need to do so. Inform the ambassadors and the press, but there's no need to make a spectacle out of every little thing we learn. Once we have some actual evidence, we can tell the people everything we know." Rossiu pointed out. He then continued, "Also, how are the repairs on the Gurren Lagann squadron coming along?"

"Only the original was in any salvageable condition and that should take another two days. The rest will have to be rebuilt from scratch, and that could take anywhere from a week to a month with all of the plants currently working overtime for the Spiral Conference."

"Ok, thanks for the report."

"You're welcome." She responded before turning to leave.

She was just about to go through the door when Rossiu spoke up again, "Kinon?"

"Yes?" She asked, turning around to face him.

"I love you."

"I love you too." Kinon blushed as she walked out the door.

* * *

**Autors Notes**:

There we are, the second chapter. Kind of slow and lacking in action, but I wanted to establish the character dynamics before I got onto the main plot. I promise that next time there will be giant robot fighting.

Now before anyone says anything, let me just point out that Rossiu and Kinon didn't get in on that night. Just because you have two mature adults that are in love share a romantic dinner does not equal sex. I just wanted to get their relationship going so that I could get some practice for later. Truth be told, that was the first romantic scene that I'd ever tried to write. Almost all of my experience in romantic fiction comes from manga, so I'm not really familiar with how to write out romance.

Another thing I wanted to establish is how good of a guy Rossiu really is. Unlike most fans, I actually like his character and I feel he get's way to much hate for his actions despite the fact that Simon himself admitted that what Rossiu did took a great deal of courage. He truly believed that what he was doing was the right thing and in any other series he would have been absolutely right.

For future reference, the cannon that this fan fiction is following is basically the first season and the second movie (I still haven't watched the first movie, although I don't think there were any changes to the series that will have an effect on this story) with the parts that I felt were inferior to the original series changed back. For instance, in this story the Human Extinction Program was activated by Anne's birth, not by the act of reaching the moon, Simon and Kinon teamed up to take out that army of Mugan in the wasteland and Simon was the one that hit Rossiu, not Kinon.

The Touge were the first spiral race that I came up with. At first, all I knew was that they were going to have ridges on their heads (think Klingons only with the grooves running front to back instead of side to side). The whole idea of them always holding a grudge came about later when I realized that I needed to show just how different the morality of the different spiral races are. Plus it adds all kinds of possible conflicts for later.

Special thanks again to my brother for proofreading the chapter.

As before comments & constructive criticism are appreciated


	3. But That's Impossible

_Obstacles are a necessary thing for any journey to have meaning. By breaking through the walls that the world has set in front of us, we become stronger._

_- Avatar of the Spiral_

* * *

**Chapter 3: **_**But That's Impossible**_

The rest of the week passed without much happening as the Spiral Conference approached. As it turned out, Leeron wasn't able to get any new information from the wreckage of the impostor Gurren Lagann. At least, nothing related to the attack.

"So why did you call me?" Viral had asked when he walked into Leeron's personal laboratory.

"Viral, how would you like to have a kid?"

That caught him completely off guard, "What did you say?"

"I think I made myself quite clear the first time." Leeron said with a sly smile.

"You must seriously be joking. I'm a beastman, I can't have children. And even if I could, I'm immortal, I'd outlive them."

"And yet you got married despite that fact." Leeron pointed out.

Viral looked away, "That was… a special case."

"Now now, no need to get embarrassed. I know your wish is to have a full family. The truth is, you're already halfway there."

"What do you mean?"

"Beastmen lack spiral energy, due to their genetic code not being a double helix. However, you still have spiral energy. Haven't you ever wondered how that could be possible?"

"Because of the modifications Lordgenome made to me when I became immortal of course." Viral replied.

"That's what I thought at first, but it turns out that that isn't the case. All living beings are capable of using spiral energy. It turns out that double helix DNA just acts as a catalyst, making it easier to generate it."

"And how does that equal me having a kid?"

"Well, I was trying to figure out what happened to the pilot that attacked the honor guard. The fact that there wasn't any pilot found made me come to the conclusion that there wasn't a pilot in the first place."

"But Gunmen need pilots to move." Viral pointed out.

"That's the same thing I thought. But then I thought, what if there was another way?" He said, turning back to his computer. "Did you know that there are living things that are capable of reproducing without DNA?"

"What?"

"Tiny bacteria, made up of only a singe cell. Some of them have the ability to exchange their genetic code with each other, essentially creating new life. Basically what I'm saying is that I could do the same thing with beastmen."

"But that's impossible." Viral pointed out.

"Tsk tsk Viral, I thought you would know better by now that nothing is impossible. Beastmen already contain all the necessary equipment to have children, it's just non functioning. I could perform surgery on you and your wife to make you able to have kids."

"So you'd be using us as guinea pigs?"

"Not really, I've already run about a thousand simulations each in multiple programs. The chance of success would be equal to that of any two humans."

Viral just stood there, dumbstruck. Could his dream really come be within reach? It seemed to good to be true.

"Tell you what. Why don't you take some time to think about it and talk it over with your wife. Come see me after the conference has gotten underway and we'll talk again."

* * *

Meanwhile, another unthinkable event was occurring…

"So, I was wondering… since I can't compete, would you go with me to the Gunmen Battle later?" Anne asked,

Shihos mouth practically hit the ground. Then he punched himself in the face.

"What was that for?" Anne asked.

"I wanted to make sure I wasn't dreaming."

"Well if you don't want to go…"

"NO NO, I'LL GO, I'LL GO" He quickly responded, waving his arms back and forth. He couldn't believe that after all this time, Anne was asking him out on a date.

She saw the look on his face almost immediately, "This isn't a date, understand? We're going as friends."

"Of course." he replied, only slightly disappointed "Just as friends."

Since they were both registered competitors, Anne and Shiho managed to get a pair of decent seats at the stadium without much difficulty, despite the fact that it was the weekend and most of the city had come to see the fight. Todays match was Itachi Shirara in his Kamita and Beka Morima in her Bekatoko. Anne had fought against both of them in the past and knew that Itachi in particular was a fierce fighter. Even though she would have preferred to be the one fighting against him, she figured that it would be fun to watch a fight from the sidelines for once.

The Gunmen Games were originally created as a way to allow military officers practice in combat, but it was soon opened up to everyone that owned a Gunmen. On top of providing entertainment to people it also had the added benefit of allowing people to work off their hot bloodedness in a controlled environment. However, even with Spiral Locks, special precautions had to be made. All ammunition had to be replaced with non-lethal rounds and the weapons were all replaced with weaker versions. A match would continue until either one of the Gunmen was unable to move or an hour had passed. Of course, there were still accidents, just as with anything else, but there hadn't been any deaths in a few years.

"COME ON ITACHI. TEAR HER A NEW ONE!" Anne suddenly yelled.

"Are you still sore about the fact that she beat you the first time you fought her?" Shiho asked.

"No." she replied "It's just that I was looking forward to fighting him. If she wins, I won't be able to fight him during the preliminaries."

"Thank you all for waiting!" The announcer shouted, "Fighters on my mark. Ready… set… FIGHT!"

Itachi made the first move, his weasel-like gunmen rushing in with his joined kusarigama. While he had never personally fought against Beka, he knew her gunmen's weakness. The Bekatoko had been designed to take hits like a brick wall. But its limbs were extremely short, so it couldn't move that fast. Beka's normal strategy was to slowly approach her opponent while they tired themselves out attacking her and crush them under her gunmen's weight. He threw one of the sickles towards the her gunmen's legs and the chain quickly wrapped around it.

"Itachi's got this in the bag." Anne said.

"I wouldn't be to sure." Shiho replied.

The Kamita started to pull on its chain, it's plan to trip its opponent. The Bekatoko started to tip backwards.

"Gotcha!" Beka suddenly yelled, swinging her foot backwards sending her spinning in the air and pulling Itachi towards her.

Itachi cursed his luck just as Beka landed on top of him.

"Well…" The announcer said, "It appears we have a winner."

The crowd was silent expecting that the match would have gone on for quite a bit longer. Then, slowly, the applause started, starting off quiet and growing until it sounded of a torrential downpour.

"Oh well," Shiho said, facing his pouting "date", "There's always next year."

"Was that supposed to cheer me up?"

"No."

"Good, because it didn't. Let's get out of here." She said, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the exit.

* * *

Shiho felt like the luckiest man on earth as left the stadium the stadium. Finally, he had gotten the chance to go on a "not date" with Anne, even if it was short. He had been in love with her ever since their first match back at the academy. In fact it was because of that match. They had already been friends for about 4 months when that years student tournament had been announced. Without his consent, she had entered both of them as a joke. So, naturally, they were set against each other in the first round. She had been worried that the match would ruin their friendship, no matter how many times he told her that it was just a match.

"It may be just a match," She had said, "but I'm one of the best pilots in the school. I'll make a complete fool out of you out there."

"Great to see how much confidence you have in my skills. Just promise me you won't hold back."

While she never promised that to him, she still won in under a minute when he became the very first person that she ever used her finishing move on.

"I hope I didn't embarrass you too much." She told him after the match.

"Are you kidding, that was awesome. What did you call that move again?"

"Nova Buster?"

"Yeah that was the one. I never would have imagined that you could do something like that."

"You shouldn't be all that surprised" she said. "It was only because of all that tutoring you gave me that I was even able to think of it. That's why I called it the Nova Buster. It's named after you in thanks of the teaching you've given me."

At that point, Shiho had needed to make a quick excuse so that she wouldn't see him turn beat red.

* * *

Half way between the Earth and Mars floated the colossal space station Tetsuko. Its four faces looked out in all directions while a giant drill extended out of the bottom, slowly turning. The entire structure was a testament to the peace that the spiral races hoped to one day achieve. Due to the massive number of attendees, the actual meeting was being held in a massive spherical chamber with holo-cams floating between the ambassadors. It was here that Rossiu was leading the Spiral Conference, and right now, he would have preferred to take on Lordgenome in a fist fight. Even though he had prepared for this day for the past twenty years and he had Kinon sitting beside him, the sheer scale of everything was mind blowing. There were discussions about trade routes, colonization, tourism, military occupation, currency exchange, Spiral Energy regulations, and a whole host of other things that he couldn't even remember at the moment.

Even though the Conference had been going on for less than an hour, arguments had already sparked up between some of the representatives (fortunately, Jifu had been rather quiet). The Hebibi and the Sumangu (who came from the same solar system) were arguing about another planet that they both wanted, the Houshou wanted control of trade routes and the Iroains wanted everyone sorted by color.

"Why did Simon have to leave all of this to me?" he wined low enough so that only Kinon could hear.

"Because he knew you were the best person for the job." She replied, patting him on the back.

Before she could continue, someone came running in the door and whispered something in her ear.

She turned to Rossiu, and with a heavy heart, repeated what she had been told. What little color there was in Rossiu's face disappeared when he heard the news. Adai Village was under attack.

* * *

**Authors Notes:**

Well, here's the third chapter. Once again, I'd like to give thanks to my brother for proofreading it. Quite a bit shorter than the other two, but then again it was just more character development. Plus, it finally game me a chance to bring Viral into the story. My conclusion that Beastmen already have the parts needed for sex comes from one thing, Adiane and Thymilph's relationship. Guame implied that their relationship went beyond simple friendship, making me think that there might have been actual sexual interaction between the two. Of course, he was a pervert, so he might have just been joking.

As for the whole double helix not being needed for generating Spiral Energy, we must look towards the Anti-Spiral. During the final battle, it was made quite clear that the Anti-Spiral doesn't understand the basics of Spiral Energy (refer to the "Where are you drawing all this power from?" exchange) despite having lived for eons. So it would make sense to come to the conclusion that no one in the series fully understands how spiral energy works or even how it's generated. All they knew was that it runs on fighting spirit and everyone that appears to be able to use it has double helix DNA. This becomes especially apparent when Viral is shown in the second movie to be able to generate Spiral Energy despite the fact that he lacks double helix DNA, thus rendering the DNA requirement moot. It certainly wasn't Lordgenome that gave it to him, because Lordgenome only made him immortal to spread the story of the futility of humanity trying to rise against him. Thus we must come to the conclusion that any living thing can generate Spiral Energy, it's just easier for those with a double helix of DNA.

The gunmen were inspired by two yokai. The Kamita is based off of a Kamaitachi (the inspiration behind the Pokémon Sneasel and Weavile) and the Bekatoko is a Nurikabe (the inspiration behind the Whomp from Mario). I went back and forth on whether or not to make the fight longer, until I realized that it matched the theme of the series, solve the problem by taking the most direct route.

Comments & constructive criticism is appreciated.

* * *

One final thing: See if you can figure out the jokes behind the other species names


	4. Avatar of the Spiral?

_A single spiral can accomplish great things._ _But when spirals join together for a common cause, they can accomplish the impossible._

_- Avatar of the Spiral._

* * *

**Chapter 4: **_**Avatar of the Spiral?**_

"Squad 852 was running a routine patrol when they noticed smoke. They reported the incident before going in to examine the problem. Less than a minute later, they were all rendered immobile by an unseen gunmen." Kinon said slowly, already knowing what Rossiu's reaction would be.

He was a complete wreck. Now, during the most important thing that he would EVER take part in, his home village had to come under attack. Without any doubt, god was testing him, just to see how far he could go before he snapped again.

Rossiu stood up, determined to show that he wouldn't be broken, "Your attention please."

The room fell silent as the quarreling attendees faced their host.

"It has come to my attention that there has been an attack launched on Earth." he stated.

There was an uproar from all around the chamber.

"What kind of conference do you think you're running here?" one representative shouted.

"Please, remain calm. We will dispatch a Gunmen squadron immediately to deal with this interruption." Rossiu quickly said.

"I feel that you should only send out Gurren Lagann to demonstrate for us that humanity has the power to lead this conference." The Iroain ambassador stated, his yellow skin giving him a malicious appearance as he stroked his beard.

There was a murmur of agreement from all around the chamber.

"You can't possibly be serious!" Kinon spoke up.

"That's enough Kinon." Rossiu said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Very well Ambassador Kisaramu. Gurren Lagann will engage the enemy alone."

"But Rossiu…"

"No Kinon, I have faith in Gimmy and Darry's abilities as pilots. They were chosen by Simon after all."

* * *

Darry had just finished giving a lesson to new recruits when she got the call. Without even bidding farewell to her students, she ran towards the hanger. Gimmy was already waiting for her.

"So did you hear?"

"Yeah, we're being sent out alone." She responded as they climbed into the recently repaired Gurren Lagann.

"It shouldn't be too much of a problem. I mean, we'll have our Spiral Lock off this time."

"I hope you're right." And with that, they took off for the place of their birth, Adai Village.

As they approached their target, Gimmy spoke up, "It's hard to believe that this will be the first time we've come back here."

"Yeah." Darry said, her mind obviously elsewhere. This was the place where they had almost been sacrificed. The place where they suffered and starved. The one place where she had hoped she'd never have to go again.

A dust storm had picked up, obscuring their enemy from view. Without warning, Gurren Lagann was hit from the side, toppling it over. Before Gimmy or Darry could get their mech back on it's feet, the opponent hit them again, sending them rolling.

"I can't see them!"

"Calm down Gimmy, they can only hide for so long."

They started to get back up, when they felt something pulling on Gurren Lagann's leg, trying to knock it back down.

"ENOUGH!" Gimmy screamed, kicking away the attacker and summoning up his Spiral Energy, blasting the dust away. Now they could clearly see the Gunmen. It looked like a massive purple snake, with yellow eyes that seemed to pierce Gimmy and Darry's souls and a drill on its tail. Darry could feel her hands starting to shake on the controls.

Mustering up her courage, she gripped down tightly and asked, "Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

"_WE ARE THE LASEN, MORE ANCIENT THAN TIME ITSELF! BY ORDER OF THE AVATAR OF THE SPIRAL, YOU SHALL BE JUDGED!_"

"Avatar of the Spiral?" she thought.

Before either of them could question any further, the snake gunmen drilled into the ground.

"Stay on guard Gimmy, they could be anywhere."

"At least there isn't more than one."

With that, eight snakes burst out of the ground, knocking Gimmy and Darry into the air. Activating their rockets, Gurren Lagann hovered in the air while the snakes looked on from below.

"You just had to say something, didn't you?"

The snakes coiled up on the ground, eying their prey. Sweat started to form on Darry's brow.

"Calm down" she told herself, "They can't reach us up here."

Suddenly, the snakes launched themselves into the air like springs, baring their fangs.

"INCOMING"

They managed to dodge the first five and grab two of them, but the eight one managed to latch onto their leg.

"Hey, get off!" Darry said, trying to shake the limb free.

Meanwhile, Gimmy was trying to deal with the two that they had managed to capture, attempting to crush them in Gurren Lagann's grip. Unfortunately, their armor was a lot tougher than it looked.

"What the hell are these things made of?"

The gunmen in their right hand launched a bite at Gurren Lagann's head.

"Oh no you don't" said Gimmy, chucking it at the ground in retaliation.

That's when Gimmy and Darry felt something pulling on their backs. In the confusion, two of the snakes had managed to bite onto their wings on the way back down. Gimmy tried to reach back to grab them, dropping the other snake he was holding in the process, but he just couldn't reach. The snakes dug their tails into Gurren Lagann's jets, shattering it and sending the red Gunmen spiraling to the ground with a massive CRASH, followed by the other snake gunmen, who fell in a pile in front of them.

"Darry, you ok?"

"Well, my back is killing me, or did you mean aside from the fact that we just fell half a mile onto solid rock?"

"Ok, you're fine."

"Yes, but now the snakes went back underground."

"Just great."

"Don't worry, there's only eight of them. If we keep are guard up, we'll be fine."

The eight snakes drilled out of the ground all around them, attempting a repeat of their previous move."

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" The twins yelled in tandem.

Gurren Lagann jumped out of the way, grabbing two of the snakes in the air. The remaining six snakes started to tear up the ground with their tails and launched a barrage of boulders at the two pilots. Swinging the two snakes around like whips, they batted away the incoming hail of rocks.

"I can't believe they're all attacking from the same side." Darry said.

"They may be well coordinated, but their strategy could used a lot of work." Gimmy replied.

Unfortunately, they were so caught up in their conversation, that they didn't notice that the ground beneath them was starting to shake. Almost immediately, a large brown gunmen launched out of the ground beneath them, once again sending them flying in the air. Seeing the opportunity, the snakes increased their rain of stone upon Gurren Lagann, knocking it away. Gurren Lagann was pushed away, again crashing into the ground.

"There was another one?" Darry asked, obviously shocked as they got Gurren Lagann back on its feet.

"It must have been hiding underground until the perfect moment."

They looked at the new opponent. It closely resembled a pigmole in its design, but the things that caught Gimmy and Darry's eyes were the eyes and the back. Over its eyes were a massive pair of sunglasses, identical to the ones on Gurren Lagann and on its back was a large symbol. It looked like a star in front of a spiral, possibly the group's logo. Darry sent the image back to command, hoping that it might give them some leads.

* * *

Meanwhile, at said command, Leeron was watching intently. These enemy gunmen were simply fascinating. Their coordination was perfect, yet they didn't seem to have any form of communication with one another.

"Now that is interesting." Leeron said to himself, his hands flying over three separate keyboards. "Their power is rising, but they're not generating any Spiral Energy."

Suddenly he felt a vibration near his butt. Reaching down, he grabbed his cell phone, smiling when he saw who the call was from.

"Yes Viral?" "Really? That's wonderful! Come by in about an hour and we'll start working out the details for the surgery."

"Now," He said, closing his phone, "back to these strange readings."

* * *

"Eight Great Snakes Bonds!"

Two of the gunmen shot out from each side, grabbing Gurren Lagann's limbs. In seconds, Gimmy and Darry were bound to the ground, their arms and legs stretched to their limits.

"Come on Gimmy, give it more power!" Darry screamed at her brother as she mustered her strength.

"What do you think I'm doing?"

All of the sudden, it started to get really dark.

"Huh? Was they're an eclipse scheduled for today?"

"No."

"OROREI CRASH!" The pigmole gunmen screamed as it body-slammed into Gurren Lagann.

"UGH!"

The ground beneath them cracked, sending them tumbling into the caves below.

Darry slowly opened her eyes. In front of her stood the sight of the "Face God" she had spent her childhood praying to. It's strange. Despite all of the painful memories she had of this place, seeing it made her feel calm. That's when the rumbling started. And right before their very eyes, the mighty face god shattered as the enemy gunmen burst through the wall. The snakes had dug their drill tails into the pigmole, combining into a nine headed monstrosity. The massive gunmen lunged at Gurren Lagann, all nine mouths wide open. Darry closed her eyes for what she was sure would be the last time.

"DRILL OF THE PIERCING CLOUDS!" Gimmy yelled as a single long drill shot out of Gurren Lagann's right arm, impaling the enemy.

"DRILL TYPHOON!"

The drill spun around at an astounding rate, ripping the massive snake creature to pieces. Soon, the twins were left in nothing but silence. After about a minute, Darry spoke up, her arms were now shaking like mad as she gripped the controls, as if she would die if she let go.

"Gimmy."

"Yeah?"

"Promise me we'll never come back here again."

"Sure thing."

* * *

About and hour later, Leeron was debriefing with Gimmy (Darry had arranged for an appointment with her therapist as soon as she got out of the cockpit).

"I can't believe how strong they were. It's almost like they had an infinite amount of power."

"According to the readings, that wasn't the case." Leeron said.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it was feeding off of your Spiral Energy. During the entire fight, not once did they generate their own spiral power. Not to mention the fact that the more Spiral Energy you used, the stronger they became." Leeron responded. "If more of these things come along, you'll need to be more conservative with the amount of Spiral Energy you use. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment with Viral's junk."

…

"What?"

* * *

**Authors Notes: **

So, we finally get around to mentioning that weird character that seems to be at the beginning of every chapter. Who are they, what is they're motive, and what makes you think that I'd actually spoil it?

Sorry for the short chapter and the lower quality. I kind of got lazy with working on it. Although it is Gurren Lagann, so having the 4th part be lower quality than the rest is just following tradition. I'm not entirely happy with how the fight turned out, both sides occasionally just standing there. The whole subplot of Viral talking to his wife was reduced to nothing more than a phone call with Leeron, but I'll make up for that next chapter.

The names of the enemy gunmen are as follows: The Pigmole one was called Ororei and the snake ones are Oroichi, Oroni, Orosan, Oroshi, Orogo, Ororoku, Orosichi, and Orohachi. So basically, in broken Japanese, Snake-zero through Snake-eight. Also, the logo mentioned is the same one on my profile page.


End file.
